It’s a little over a year since we launched the circular economy hub on Guardian Sustainable Business. Back then, it felt like a seedling of an idea that was yet to fully take root in business. We’ve asked a range of experts what progress has been made in the last 12 months.

Ron Gonen

Ron Gonen, co-founder and chief executive, Closed Loop Fund and former deputy commissioner for Sanitation, Recycling and Sustainability for NYC under former mayor Michael Bloomberg

The development of the circular economy will prove to be one of the most important economic opportunities of the first part of the 21st century. When we strip out the politics and social commentary about what it means to be an environmentalist, promoting a circular economy is simply the most efficient and optimal way to manage a business.

To date, the biggest obstacles have been scale and mature markets that can accept and trade in the full amount of different goods. There must be an efficient market mechanism and there must be givers and takers of the same approximate size. The internet has proven to be the market mechanism. People may now be speaking about the circular economy as a mainstream economic movement, but eBay was effectively a large circular economy that operated within national economies and the global economy when it launched in the 1990’s.

The internet enabled millions of individuals to participate in the circular economy, but in order for the circular economy to become a major economic movement, participation from major corporations with their massive consumption of goods and materials in the manufacturing process and eventually their products, must see value in participating. The last few years has seen some major corporations recognise the value of the circular economy - from optimising the materials used in the manufacturing process to ensuring that consumers recycle their products to bring valuable material back into the supply chain.

Creating a circular economy will take action in three areas: the economy, policy and politics, and innovation. Scaling quickly will only happen when all three push in the same direction. Over the past year, the signals have been mixed.

The economic story is straightforward: resource prices are flat, while economic growth is finally starting to push real wages up for the first time since the recession. This has dampened the economic urgency of the circular economy, but it still makes sense. Commodity prices between 2000 and 2013 rose nearly 2% for every 1% rise in GDP (pdf), and real wages wouldn’t have fallen at all if imported UK resource price shocks hadn’t been so sharp.

Politics has been more convoluted (as usual): the EU set out a strong but incremental policy proposal to promote the circular economy, which the UK government publicly supported while privately working to dilute it. The environmental audit committee’s Growing a circular economy report proposed a strong set of reforms, which government quietly rebuffed. Meanwhile, Scotland and Wales have continued to lead UK policymaking on the circular economy, while Conservative, Labour, and Lib Dem politicians have promised action in the next parliament.

One of the more fundamental challenges for the circular economy is the lack of strong rule of law in many developing and emerging markets, which limits investment and business opportunity. Strong rule of law and governance decreases risk, making commercial investments in those markets more attractive and safer and creating an enabling environment for responsible business growth. Governments that have stronger rule of law in place will see economic benefits as more investment and business can be conducted in their nation. By opening additional markets to investment and trade, rule of law will help enable a circular economy and fuel job and economic growth for developed, developing and emerging markets.

Liz Goodwin, chief executive, Wrap

This year has seen the tide turn for the circular economy. To give a couple of examples from the past 12 months: the REBus project, which Wrap is leading, has been demonstrating how businesses can implement more resource efficient supply chains and the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) has been exploring new ways fashion and sustainability can be an attractive partnership.

Just last week, Wrap was able to announce that 50 major brands had signed up to the Electrical and Electronic Sustainability Action Plan. Signatories will be exploring more circular business models – looking at improving the product life-cycle, improving durability and increasing reuse. This list of market leaders is a true testament to show that the circular economy is really beginning to break through to the mainstream.

We’ve made progress, but next year I want to see the circular economy really making waves because it’s in all of our best interests to do so.

Ida Auken is a Danish politician and member of parliament from the Danish Social Liberal party. She was minister for the environment of Denmark from 2011-14

Less than 50 metres, but more than a world apart. That used to be my impression of the distance between The ministry of business and the ministry of environment in Denmark. Although placed alongside each other the two ministries used to be opponents on almost everything – most significantly on the question of growth and the environment. Environmental concerns were seen as limiting growth, and growth concerns seen as damaging to the environment.

But within the last year things have changed. The gap between the two ministries is becoming smaller every day due to the idea of the circular economy. Suddenly both ministries see the benefit for their agenda in this new way of thinking.

Today it is the ministry of business driving the circular economy agenda in Denmark. It has created a Task Force to help businesses become resource efficient and apply circular business models, it has constructed a Green Fund and is looking at legislation and into creating partnerships with the private sector. It has understood that the circular economy is about improving competitiveness by lowering production costs and unleashing innovation by looking at resources in a completely different way.

It is not only in Denmark that the circular economy is becoming a real game changer for business. Within the last year it has become a top priority for the World Economic Forum (WEF). The forum has created a strong team focusing specifically on the circular economy. It is partnering with key thought leaders such as The Ellen McArthur Foundation and Bill McDonough and has created the first award for circular economy, The Circulars, which will be awarded next year’s summit in Davos.

I am convinced that the circular economy holds the potential to become the engaging, positive vision with thousands of concrete solutions that can give people all over the world better lives. We have only just begun developing the idea. It is spreading rapidly and I can’t wait to see what 2015 will bring.